Chapter 39 – Sera
Chapter Thirty-Nine
SERA
The flames rage around us, keeping the guards away for now. I can sense the other wielders attempting to douse my flames, but I’m Fiona Seraphine, daughter of House Emberwood. My family ruled for generations for a reason. I might not be a fighter, but I’m not weak.
I catch movement from the corner of my eye, and shock reverberates through me when Alex spins around and plunges a blade right into the queen’s chest. She screams, losing her hold on Alex’s hair and putting a shaking hand to the dark blood dripping down her bodice.
Alex pulls the blade out, ready to strike again when she screams, “Stop!”
His hand freezes above her, sweat rolling down his face as he fights her compulsion. Why isn’t she going down? Did he miss her heart?
I’m about to run to him, to try to do something to help, when a large arm clamps around my waist, pulling me into an armored chest.
What? How?
“Did you think I served your family for centuries without learning a few tricks to get past your fire?” Loche says in my ear.
“You’re a traitor,” I growl. “You’ll burn for this.”
He holds a blade to my throat. “You’re not exactly in a position to threaten right now.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why did you betray them?”
A dark laugh reverberates through me as Loche’s grip tightens, the blade nicking my skin.
“After everything I did for your family, they refused me the one thing I wanted. Your sister. The throne.”
I take a ragged breath before hysterical laughter bubbles out of me. “You think the enchantress will crown you? You’re a bigger fool than I thought.”
“Bring her to me,” the queen commands. She’s tangled her hand in Alex’s hair again, exposing his throat. His body is frozen but for his hand that subtly twitches at his side. Oh gods, how do we get out of this?
The light shifts, and all the fae lights in the room burn brighter as the suns move ever closer to the horizon. As if sensing the predicament we’re in, the swan’s consciousness nudges at my mind while Loche pushes me toward the queen.
Let go and I can help, she says.
It takes everything within me not to react, shock coursing through me at the swan’s voice in my mind. I have so many questions, but time is of the essence and we’re only feet away from the evil queen.
Thank you, I reply.
My body shrinks, bones cracking and reforming, but for the first time, I welcome the change, and the pain vanishes. I still truly believed the swan to be an adversary instead of accepting her as a new part of who I am, but now it feels like we’re on the same side. I’m sorry. I was wrong.
A calm acceptance flows over me as I transform into the graceful creature I now share a body with.
I sense her, but I still feel like me. Approval hums through my mind.
Loche’s grasp on me falters as my shape changes, and I shove him backward with a powerful thrust from my wing.
His screams ring out as he lands in the circle of flames that remain strong despite my transformation.
I turn my gaze back to the enchantress, who has now forced Alex to the ground, her mouth attached to his throat. A loud hiss comes out of me as I rush her. I’m afraid to burn Alex, so I keep my flames inside, but they sear my throat, itching to get out, to burn the impostor queen to a crisp.
Alex’s body is far too still, but before I lose myself to grief and rage, I reach for the bond. It still stretches between us, and I can make out the faintest lift of his chest in my peripheral vision. Not dead yet, but the queen continues to suck the life out of him.
I ram into her, and she growls at me, her mouth bloody and fangs extended.
“How?” She gasps, eyes darting to the window, where the last of the suns’ light still gleams.
The queen grabs Alex’s dagger and swipes it at me.
I dodge out of the way and send a stream of fire into her face.
She barely ducks in time, rolling away before tearing into her own wrist with her teeth, her blood black like tar.
What in the hells is she? One of the ancient vampires who aren’t supposed to be here anymore?
The queen turns toward Alex, and I watch in horror as she slides across the bloody floor and forces her bleeding wrist into his mouth.
The NO! screaming through my head is deafening. Not my Alex.
Where the hells is Jade? She was supposed to be here by now. Could she have stopped this?
Alex’s body starts convulsing on the floor, and the queen throws her head back and cackles with glee. This is the last straw. No more.
A scream comes out of me, and the stream of fire that leaves my mouth catches in the queen’s hair. She jumps to her feet and towers over me, looking like a thing of nightmares with her hair blazing on her head.
“Big mistake, Seraphine,” she hisses, baring her fanged teeth at me.
Her ability to compel makes so much more sense now that I know what she is. How she survived the vampire culling is a mystery.
With a snap of her fingers, the flames on her head are doused. “It’s too late. He’s mine now.”
A surge of rage flows through me as bones crack and feathers disappear. I stretch taller, my body transforming back into my fae form. I don’t question it. I embrace it.
Thank you, I send my gratitude to the swan.
The surprise radiating from the queen is enough to give me strength. Wrapping my body in flames, I stand tall, unafraid.
“Undo it!” I command.
The queen cackles again until a sweeping pulse of power floods the room. The mirror!
My magic surges, and the queen screams, “No!” A tremor wracks her body and she grows impossibly paler. I leap toward the axe she intended for Alex to use on me, swiping it off the floor.
Sending up a quick prayer to the Mother, I spin and swing at the queen, shock ringing through me when it makes contact with flesh and bone.
The axe is so sharp, it glides through her neck.
One minute, the queen is screaming, and the next, her head rolls onto the floor, right into the wall of fire.
The scent of burning flesh makes me want to gag, but I need to get to Alex.
I run to him, falling to my knees at his side and letting the flames around my body go out.
“Alex,” I cry, cupping his cheeks. “Please wake up.”
His body is so still, too still. I lower my head and place it on his chest, listening for the heartbeat that matches my own, but it’s completely still.
I pound a fist on his chest. No. No. No.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. I hate that he paid the price, that the queen used him to get to me.
He deserved so much better. He is good and strong.
The way he fought that compulsion to stab her was unbelievable. He must have been in excruciating pain.
I lie across Alex’s body, tears flooding my vision as I whisper for him to come back.
The bond between us is fragile; it could snap at any minute.
I don’t know if there’s a way for him to come back, nor do I know what else this queen did to him.
All I know is his body is cool beneath mine and his heart no longer beats.
Despite that, I still sense something between us, something holding on for dear life.
Distantly, the clash of blades ring out amidst shouts and screams, but all I can do is lie here, praying to the Mother, or any god who might listen, to save Alex, to save my mate.
The flaming circle around us starts to die down, but I remain draped over the man I love in spite of all the reasons we should never work.
“Sera, are you okay?” Jade’s voice breaks into my haze, and I lift my tear-stained eyes to meet her golden ones.
“No,” I cry. “I was too late.”
“You’re not a swan,” Jade breathes, awe in her voice.
“It doesn’t even matter because I couldn’t save him,” I sob.
“Is he . . .” Jade trails off.
I shrug. “She tried to turn him. I don’t know if she succeeded. His heart isn’t beating.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?” She cleans her blade on her leather pants before sheathing it along her back.
“What in the hells happened?” I ask, sitting up and looking around. There are at least twelve dead guards lying on the floor, and I spy Loche burnt to a crisp.
Jade hands me my dress from where it pooled on the floor, and I slip it over my head.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I was caught in the passages on my way to destroy her mirror and had to fight my way out.
I thought I was too late with the suns already set, but I got here as quickly as I could.
The guards were going a little berserk with the queen’s death and the mirror’s destruction, but I did my best to keep them from you.
” She sinks to her knees next to me. “Once again, I am so sorry.”
“Please stop. This isn’t your fault. Thank you for sticking to the plan. I don’t know if I’d have been able to kill her otherwise.” I grimace.
“The guards kept fighting me despite her death, so I’m afraid it might take a little while for the compulsions to fully fade. She was a powerful vampire, stronger than I realized.”
“Did you know?” I ask.
“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t think there were any vampires left. Plus, she seemed to tolerate the suns,” Jade replies.
“That is curious,” I admit. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“What would you like to do with your mate?”
I look at his still form, grief and uncertainty threatening to overwhelm me once again. “I’d like to get him to our rooms so he’s at least comfortable. But is it safe?”
“I handled the guards nearby, but I’m not sure how long it will take for the rest to wake up. Can you wait here and put up another fire barrier? I’m going to find help.”
I nod, curling myself over Alex once more. The room grows darker as night fully descends upon us, the glow of the fae lights and the flicker of my fire casting us in eerie shadows.
“I’m sorry, Alex,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You deserved better from me.”
Everything is a blur until Jade returns with unfamiliar guards in tow, calling out for me to lower my flames. They bow to me, calling me princess, which feels odd. I have no idea what to expect, but for now, I’m grateful as they carefully pick Alex up and carry him to the rooms we shared.
After they lay him on the bed, I remove his boots and vest and finally his shirt.
He’s covered in blood, some his own and some the dark sticky black blood of the dead queen.
Servants bring in buckets of warm soapy water and help me clean him up.
The way he lies so still terrifies me. I keep my eyes on him, hoping for a flicker of life to return.
A healer comes in and carefully sews up the tears in his throat and the gash running from his eye down his cheek.
He’ll have scars if he awakens, but he’s never been more beautiful to me.
There’s a rune burned into his chest right over his heart that is raised and red, a diamond pattern with two lines crossing beneath. Fresh anger over what the queen did to him burns anew. He didn’t deserve this.
I have the servants draw the curtains, the only light in the room coming from the soft fae lights. All I can do is hope he awakens and that he knows me and doesn’t turn into some raging monster bound to the night.
My body is exhausted, and I curl up in bed beside him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Come back to me, Alex,” I whisper. “I need you.”